Pretzel Chicken with Mustard Dipping Sauce

Pretzel Chicken with Mustard Dipping Sauce

Leila
Dinner, Chicken, Condiment

Pretzel chicken is a rare combination of easy and delicious. As a result, it has been a staple dinner in my household for years.  I often used to make it for my sons whenever Kevin and I went out for dinner.  Kevin was always disappointed to miss pretzel chicken night, of course, and it's easy to see why; when the little pretzel chunks cook into the buttery oil, they soften up while still retaining just enough of their mouthwateringly crunchy texture.  You may be tempted to skip the mustard sauce, but don't.  Mustard and pretzels have always worked beautifully together, and the nuanced sweetness of the sautéed onions brings out the best of the mustard's acidity.  Read more.

Carrot Cookies

Carrot Cookies

Leila
Cookies, Dessert

Soon after I began dating the man to whom I am now married, I asked him to tell me the name of his favorite cookie.  I was curious to hear his answer, but more importantly I wanted to surprise him with a batch.  Without hesitation, he replied "carrot cookies."  I was surprised, not only because I thought he seemed more like a chocolate chip cookie person (back then I thought everybody was a "chocolate chip cookie person"), but also because I had never heard of carrot cookies until that moment.  Without asking any followup questions, I went ahead and baked him the best interpretation of "carrot cookies" I could muster.... and he was very sweet about it when I surprised him with something that more closely resembled carrot cake than his evasive favorite cookie.  Later on in our relationship when he first took me home to meet his family, his mom made carrot cookies for us and suddenly I understood.  Because his mother boiled and pureed the carrots beforehand, they were light and textured pillows of carroty goodness unlike anything I'd ever tasted.  Read more.

Slow Cooked Beans

Slow Cooked Beans

Leila
Gluten-Free, Vegetable Side

I've tried recipes from the food sections of many newspapers over the years, and sadly I've been disappointed more often than not.  But the New York Times is a newspaper that rarely disappoints.  Their recipes are interesting, creative, and most importantly, delicious.  Last August, I read a NYT article by Samin Nosrat, who first learned about the process of slow cooking vegetables while working as an apprentice at a restaurant outside of Florence.  I was intrigued by her slow cooked beans recipe for a number of reasons.  First because I tend to just barely cook through my vegetables, so the idea of cooking a pot of vegetables for hours was entirely new to me. And second because the only green beans I ever ate as a child came from the frozen food section, which may explain why I don't serve them for dinner very often.  Read more.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Leila
Dinner, Gluten-Free Option

I love routines.  They're just so comfortable.  Growing up, we had many food routines... pizza with birch beer every Friday night; spaghetti and meatballs (or a variant such as lasagna) every Sunday at noon; we even had pancakes or waffle ice cream sandwiches every Sunday night (for dinner, not dessert!).  Waffle ice cream sandwiches for dinner was one of those wonderful but crazy traditions that went against everything I thought a meal was supposed to be as a child.  But regardless of how amazing waffles and ice cream sounds, it still wasn't my favorite dinner of the week.  My two favorites will always be pizza and spaghetti and meatballs.  Read more.

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